Centric Skills Overview
This folio gives an overview of the 24 Centric Skills that primarily compose our toolkit for Flourishing and are detailed here. Eight of those Centric Skills are distinguished as Foundational Skills and are detailed here with an overview here.
Importance
In the field of Positive Psychology, Centric Skills are often called character skills or character strengths. In education or other fields of psychology they may be known as non cognitive factors. Philosophers over the ages have called them virtues. However they are called, the importance of various sets of skills as primary tools has been highlighted by thinkers over the ages.
As noted on on the Character Lab website, "There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that character strengths [ie, Centric Skills] are as important as IQ and socioeconomic status to academic achievement and well-being." This finding extends to success and Flourishing throughout life.
Why do our internal Centric Skills form a basic toolkit for enhancing our PERMA-V elements of Flourishing? Why not physical characteristics, material externalities or task skills? How do we use our Centric Skills? Can we grow and improve them? Can they be too strong? These questions are addressed in the zZense Toolkit Folio.
Origin
The complexity of us humans and our societies means there isn't one precise set of these skills that is clearly more right than other sets. However, zZense Technology posits the value of adopting one specific set of Centric Skills. This enables clear, valuable thinking and discussion about assessing, growing and using them.
Therefor, zZense Technology defines the Centric Skills based on the recent monumental work of Christopher Peterson PhD and Martin Seligman PhD. They led a 3-year study involving 55 distinguished social scientists who analyzed thinking from Plato to the present day, and from cultures and traditions world wide, to distill 24 universally valued character strengths. The study results are detailed in the book Character Strengths and Virtues.
Since this study, various researchers have published somewhat differing names and interpretations of each skill. See for example, the VIA Survey of Character Strengths, Scale- and Item-Level Factor Analyses of the VIA Inventory of Strengths, Building Your Strengths and Character Strengths Matter, to name only a few. We sifted through many such works and distilled a relevant and consistent synthesis to specify the zZense Centric Skills.
The 24 Centric Skills
In the list below, various alternative names for each skill are shown in parenthesis. Clicking on a skill expands its description.
Appreciation (awe, wonder, elevation)The ability to recognize, value, and derive pleasure from beauty and excellence
Appreciation is valuable in domains ranging from nature to creative expression in music, art, acting or writing, to performance in sports, business, discourse or even product engineering, and everything in between. Emotions of awe or wonder are commonly aroused.
Bravery (courage, valor)The will to take action despite fear coming from perceived personal risk in the face of uncertain outcome
Bravery is about managing fear -- it's not about not being scared -- though it may appear fearless to outsiders.
"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." -Eddie Rickenbacker, America's most successful ace fighter pilot in WW I.
Bravery enables us to take beneficial actions in spite of physical, emotional, or social danger.
Creativity (originality, ingenuity)Making or doing, in novel and productive ways
Creativity is not simply being original, different or weird. Benefit must be created. Creativity arises not only in traditional creative expression such as music or art, but also in solving problems and overcoming obstacles throughout life.
Curiosity (interest, openness to new experience)Recognition of new knowledge, experience or challenge, and a desire to pursue it
Because Curiosity drives growth in so many ways, it is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Fairness (equity, justice)Cognitive judgment around moral rights and responsibilities, that treats all those in similar situations with equality, unbiased by personal emotion or popular opinion
Unfair treatment leads to harmful emotions of anger and resentment. Fairness strengthens the social fabric and increases social efficiency because people know better what to expect. Being fair benefits ourselves individually by allowing us to seize opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked due to prejudice.
Forgiveness (mercy)Putting aside self-destructive resentment, anger, grudges or vengeance against those who hurt or offend us
Sometimes forgiving benefits the transgressor -- accepting his shortcomings and giving him a second chance. Potently, if we are victimized, Forgiveness allows us to move forward rather than being imprisoned with the emotions of a victim.
Gratitude (non-entitlement)Appreciation and desire to reciprocate for the benefits we receive from the people and world around us
Because Gratitude has been shown to build better PosEmotion, Relationships and Vitality, and it is opposite to the debilitating mindset of entitlement, Gratitude is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Grit (persistence, perseverance, industriousness)Passion and perseverance to complete long-term goals
Because Grit is a key driver of Achievement, it is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Growth Mindset (love of learning)Willingness to make efforts that grow our skills and knowledge and that achieve new heights, based on belief that skills are not fixed and that growth and achievement requires effort rather than coming naturally
Because a Growth Mindset is critical to growth of the other skills, and informs us of the effort that is required for that growth and for achievement, it is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Humility (modesty)Letting our strengths and accomplishments speak for themselves, without promoting them to impress others
Humility is being honest about our limitations, open to assistance or advice from others, and understanding our relationship to the world and people around us.
Humor (playfulness)An ability to bring smiles and laughter to ourselves and others, to find the cheerful side of adversity, and to approach life playfully.
What a dull world without humor! And how difficult to weather life's disappointments!
Integrity (authenticity, honesty)Representing thoughts and emotions accurately and truthfully, both to others and to our selves, and taking responsibility for them including our spoken word
As Dr. Seuss' character Horton says
"I meant what I said
And I said what I meant…
An elephant’s faithful
One hundred per cent!"
Judgment (critical thinking, receptivity, open-mindedness)Making good decisions by searching for, welcoming and objectively weighing evidence from all sides
Judgment is an antidote to the common human tendency to favor the popular view, or one's own preconceived view, by accepting only data and viewpoints supporting them and ignoring others. This tendency is called "selection bias". The alternative names, critical thinking, receptivity (to new information), and open-mindedness highlight Judgment's function as a selection bias correction skill. So does the idea that a judge should be fair.
Not only do good decisions of Judgment lead to better life outcomes. Good Judgment also leads to a world view that is coherent. One that minimizes tangles of contradiction in thought and action, and the resulting loss and unhappiness.
Kindness (compassion, generosity, niceness)Performing good deeds or favors for others because of the joy it gives us, rather than expectation of material gain or a sense of obligation
Random acts of kindness are a great way to increase our PosEmotions. A helping hand for those struggling can build community and increase the stability of society. Caution: there is a gray boundary between Kindness and enabling negative behavior by rescuing others from the appropriate consequences of their actions.
LeadershipAttracting, motivating, directing and coordinating followers to achieve common goals effectively
Leadership may be an amalgam of skills, rather than a single one. Yet top-five character skills don't seem consistent among successful leaders. A defining aspect of Leadership is followers. Tom Rath says followers seek trust, compassion, stability and hope from their leaders. This is in contrast to vision, clarity, and purpose which are hot buttons in most business Leadership books.
Love (and be loved)Creating, nurturing and enjoying close relationships that are selective and enduringly attached
The relationships are with three sorts of people: those that care for and protect us, those for whom we do likewise, and a special partner. See the insightful article by George Vaillant, in which he clearly distinguishes real love from ersatz love. Real love builds close Relationships important to Flourishing, while ersatz love does not. He notes that real love is enduring rather than fleeting, eg, not a "one night stand". Further, he notes that real love is selective, in contrast to, eg, admonitions to love all men equally.
Optimism (hope, confidence)Believing that our efforts can overcome challenges and achieve goals, even if multiple attempts are needed
Because life is full of challenges and setbacks that must be overcome, and if we quit trying our growth will cease too, Optimism is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Perspective (wisdom)Developing an understanding of issues in the large, having multiple conflicting facets, that is coherent to our selves and others and with which we can provide counsel
Perspective extends the skill of Judgment by adding consistent logical reasoning, a broad and deep base of knowledge, and a sense of priorities. Judgment ensures that data and viewpoints from all directions are fairly included in the process. Consistent reasoning, based on logic rather than emotion, is needed to realize a coherent understanding. A large base of knowledge, generally acquired with age and experience, provides the raw data.
Finally, priorities are critical because almost all complex real world issues have benefits in one area and detriments in another. Eg, a tax policy may raise money in the short term while discouraging needed investment in the long term. Or a forest preservation strategy may foster the environment while destroying the livelihood of poor farmers needing to clear land.
PrudencePractical reasoning and self-regulation concerning consequences of our decisions and actions that avoids undue risks and helps to achieve long-term goals
Prudence is acting cautiously. Nowadays Prudence seems stuffy and timid, while risk-taking is glorified in popular media and by our social structures. X-Games are popular TV fare. Everyone admires the entrepreneur who risked all and won big -- we don't see the many more who lost all. Similarly, venture capitalists fund many high risk / high reward ventures to get an occasional huge success. This gives VCs and the nation the best overall financial return, yet for each startup company and their individual people, well, let's say that results vary... Giant business institutions are encouraged to take undue risk to match the high returns their competitors are getting by similar strategy, and to please stockholders having short-term focus, while knowing the government or someone will bail them out if things go sour.
However, Experienced investors and gamblers know that it takes more than three 90% gains to make up for one 90% loss. Prudence has its place.
Self-Regulation (self-control)Ability of our conscious mind to control our body, behavior, emotions and mental processes, despite impulses that could divert us.
Because Self-Regulation is a key driver of Achievement and Vitality and a contributor to other elements of Flourishing and Centric Skills like Learning, Integrity, and Prudence, and an immunization against debilitating vices, it is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Social IQ (social or emotional intelligence)Recognizing and understanding emotions and motives of our selves and others, to guide our actions concerning relationships, such as in intimacy, trust, persuasion and political power
Because we live not individually isolated but in a world peopled around us, and it directly drives Achievement and Relationships, two of PERMA-V elements of Flourishing, Social IQ is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
Spirituality (faith, purpose)Holding and acting upon coherent beliefs about the higher purpose of the universe and our place within it, and deriving from those beliefs comfort in the face of adversity
Spirituality includes but is not limited to religious belief and practice
Teamwork (citizenship, loyalty, social responsibility)Ability and desire to work effectively for the common good as a member of a group
This includes loyalty to the group and responsibility to do our share.
Zest (vitality, enthusiasm, vigor, energy)Approaching life wholeheartedly with mental and physical energy and excitement
Because Zest is the energy, the fuel, that powers all of life, it is a Foundational Skill. See more about this skill here.
In addition to the information available by clicking one of the above Centric Skills, there are detailed folios for some skills here or by browsing with the "next" button.
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